Heretofore, it has been recognized as desirable to provide reverse inhibitor arrangements for manual gearshift mechanism.
Many of these arrangements have included lock-out means or stop members associated with the lower end of the control lever actuated by the operator inside the vehicle, such as disclosed U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,693,135; 4,143,560; 4,324,150; 4,275,614; 3,866,488; and 3,933,057.
When a shift pattern is such that the highest ratio, e.g., FIFTH, shift rail lug in the transmission is positioned directly opposite the reverse ratio shift rail lug, other means associated with the shift mechanism on the top of the transmission are employed. For example, in Gorman et al patent No. 4,638,678, an inhibitor lever having two abutment pads and being slidably and rotatably disposed on a support rod, in conjunction with a spring mounted around the support rod, is contacted and pivoted by the selector lever against the spring until one of the two abutment pads contacts the housing to prevent further pivoting of the selector lever toward REVERSE ratio position prior to linear movement toward a lower forward ratio position.
Nagy et al U.S. Pat. No. 4,174,644 includes an interlock member formed of sheet metal, with a central rectangular portion and opposite walls located on opposite sides of a shift lever, and being apertured to receive the shift shaft so that the interlock member moves with the shift shaft during its axial movement and is held against rotary movement by an axial guide on the housing, inhibiting selecting movement to reverse position.
Ida et al U.S. Pat. No. 4,476,740 discloses a safety device for preventing direct movement of the gearshift lever into the reverse ratio position R from the oppositely disposed fifth speed ratio position 5 across the same gate. The safety device includes a radial projection integral with a selector sleeve member, a reverse restrict pin with a radial abutment surface formed thereon and being mounted in a boss portion, and a coil spring assembled with the restrict pin, such that rotary movement of the restrict pin is restricted by engagement of the radial projection with the radial abutment surface to prevent an error in shifting operation of the gearshift lever toward the reverse-ratio position R. Kudo et al U.S. Pat. No. 4,381,682 provides a latch member for preventing inadvertent shifting into reverse drive condition from a forward drive condition. The latch member includes a lock claw which is positioned in one position in the path of movement of a fork shift member projection to restrict movement of the fork shift member and inhibit engagement of the reverse drive gear. Cooperating cam surfaces of the latch member and fork shift member serve to return the latch member to the other of its positions upon return of the shift fork member to an intermediate neutral position.